Among adaptogenic plants Schisandra chinensis (Schisandra chinensis (Turcz) Baill) has demonstrated an adaptogenic and tonic effect. In traditional Chinese medicine Schisandra chinensis has been used for at least 15 centuries. As a medicinal plant it has been described in Ben Cao Chang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica) in 1596 written by the Chinese scientist Li Shi Zhen.
Schisandra chinensis is widely used in traditional medicine in many countries. In China, Japan and Tibet it is used as a tonic and stomachic agent. In Korea it has gained recognition as a tonic agent for improving general weakness, fatigue, sexual disorders. In traditional medicine of the peoples of Southeast Asia Schisandra chinensis is used to treat dysentery, gonorrhea, acute respiratory infections, pertussis, etc.
It has been shown that orally administered Schisandra chinensis fruits and seeds increase physical performance, promote endurance by individuals subjected to fatigue, remove sleepiness and sharpen visual function.
The biological activity of Schisandra chinensis seeds is due mainly to lignans (group phenylpropanoids), among which schisandrin (schisandrol A) is the most abundant.
The use of Schisandra chinensis fruits and seeds and their extracts in some formulations of food supplements is known. The majority of these complex preparations contain a number of components that are biologically active. However, Schisandra chinensis extracts occur in small amount therefore schisandrin content in preparations is either insignificant or not quantified.
The existing Schisandra chinensis preparations are available as alcoholic tinctures and are used in the form of drops. Such preparations are analyzed for ether oil content, the total amount of fat and ether oils and citric acid which is not a leading group of biologically active compounds of the plant in terms of interpretation of the tonic effect. Furthermore, the use of this dosage form does not provide accurate dosing, does not exclude the possibility of overdosing, does not provide the ease of taking the preparation, as well as its storage stability. The presence of alcohol in the preparation limits its use in some cases.
Fructus schisandrae has been described in U.S. 2009/0169653 which discloses a composition for prophylaxis of treatment of urinary system infection. U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,207 describes dietary supplements containing Kava root extract, Passion flower, Chamomile flowers, Hops and Schisandra fruit. U.S. 2012/0121743 describes a Schisandra sphenanthera fruit extract and cosmetic, dermatological and neutraceutical compositions.